Tigers' TV exposure to increase under new deal

Big East sets deal with ESPN

All University of Memphis football and men's basketball conference games and all of its home non-conference games in those sports will be broadcast on one of ESPN's platforms, either television or the digital-only ESPN3, under a media rights deal announced Tuesday by the network and the Big East Conference that runs through 2019-20.

"This agreement shows the confidence ESPN has with us," league commissioner Mike Aresco said in a conference call with reporters. "Our conference has a bright future and this agreement is an important building block for that. ... We've got a terrific product going forward."

Some of the games may be sublicensed to other networks. Aresco said the conference also has another network deal that will be announced as soon as next week. Financial terms of Tuesday's deal were not disclosed, but ESPN.com has previously reported the league's television deals will be worth approximately $1.8 million per school per year.

Beyond the programming for regular-season football and men's basketball, the deal calls for the championship game of the basketball tournament to be on ABC or ESPN and the entire tournament to be carried on broadcast television.

The football championship game, expected to start in 2015, will also be on either ABC or ESPN.

The league's existing contract with ESPN for football will continue through this fall's season while the basketball contract takes effect this winter.

Beginning in the summer of 2014, the new contract will govern all sports.

On other fronts:

Aresco said he hoped to have a new name for the conference "at some point in the spring. It is possible in April, perhaps early May."

Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen told The Commercial Appeal this month that his school would like to host the league's basketball tournaments, which are available beginning next year. Aresco said finding a tournament host is a priority and that the league would prefer to be in a city where there is a league team. He indicated there's a good chance that the tournament hosting role would rotate.

The league will look "over the next few weeks" at finalizing a 12th football-playing school to invite as a member.